The Halloween Party
by panickedfish
Summary: after a really great summer, the boys go to a Halloween theme party
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: **This story was written for user _Unattainable Dreams'_ Prompt Exchange Challenge. As I was writing (what was supposed to just be a one-shot), I realized that it might make more sense to have a few smaller chapters to break it up. I've uploaded the first few all at once and now I'm editing the last half, which I'll post soon. I hope you enjoy it!

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"Someone should really tell him that he's not scary."

"And ruin the fun? I don't think so."

"At least _one _of us is having fun."

"Oh stop it."

Nagisa chided Rei and bumped him in the arm with his elbow, trying to see over the mass of people in their classmate's basement.

Every Halloween, someone with rich parents, a large house, and access to alcohol would invite the entire grade of their peers attending Iwatobi High School and throw a party. As it was nearing midnight, the party was starting to pick up; the music was louder, the night darker, and the basement more crowded.

For a while, he and Rei had lost sight of Makoto as he wandered through the crowd, smiling to display his fangs and drawing appreciative nods from his peers. His bloodied makeup was skillfully applied, and it made for a surprisingly convincing costume. In the darkness, he had made a habit of jumping out at his classmates for a laugh. It was all in good fun.

"Well we can't let this continue, otherwise everything will just go to his head," Rei groaned.

Nagisa looked worried. "Do you honestly think that would happen?"

"I guess not." Rei looked at Makoto through a break in the crowd. Their teammate seemed to be having a good time, but his eyes continued to dart towards the door leading upstairs as though he was waiting for someone. Rei looked at his watch. He had had a grueling practice today and was impatient for this night to end. The decorations, although spooky, weren't beautiful. He'd rather be in bed.

Nagisa nudged his friend again, and watched as Rei pushed up his glasses higher on the bridge of his nose. His face was flushed, but Nagisa suspected that had to do with the fairy wings on his back more so than the alcohol. Nagisa himself had had more than a few drinks, and it showed as he giggled and enthusiastically flopped around the long sleeves of his pumpkin-knit sweater.

"I can't believe Kou convinced you to wear those!" Nagisa laughed, suddenly seized with laughter. He doubled over and put a hand on Rei's shoulder to steady himself.

Suddenly, the two boys were bumped into by a girl with long red hair wearing a headband with cat ears. Right on cue, Kou winked at them.

"Well, the rules state that you need to dress for the occasion."

"Nagisa isn't in a costume!"

Kou held a hand by her mouth as though to keep this between just the two of them, though she had to yell a little to be heard over the music. "At least his sweater's festive."

Nagisa nodded seriously. "Do you know how many racks I went through at the thrift store to find this masterpiece of a sweater? It takes effort to dig up something as wonderful as this!"

Kou smiled and shrugged at a shocked-looking Rei. "There you have it. Now you boys have fun!" And as soon as she had appeared by their side, she was gone.

Rei sighed as he watched her go and then turned to see Nagisa. The blond's eyes were wide and his mouth turned down in a frown.

"You aren't actually mad, are you, Rei-chan?"

Rei sighed. "I guess not," He repeated. Seeing Nagia's expression he sighed yet again. "Not really. I'm just tired."

Nagisa brightened. "Well, I know what you need! Let's dance."

Rei groaned but the youth was already pulling him into the mess of bodies that had gathered near the speakers in the corner. He reluctantly tried to make his body move with the beat and was awarded with a wide smile from Nagisa. Just as Rei was letting his self-consciousness leave his body and really getting his shoulders into the movement, Nagisa disappeared with a wink.

"Whaaaa?" Rei gasped aloud. He spun around and saw Makoto looking at him from the other side of the room.

Panicking from being left alone on the dance floor, Rei lunged through a small group of people and skirted a lively game of beer pong, apologizing all the while. Finally, he slumped against the wall next to Makoto.


	2. Chapter 2

Makoto flashed his fangs, his eyes crinkling with amusement. It was nice to see how Nagisa's enthusiasm was influencing the other athlete.

"Having fun yet?"

"You really aren't that scary," Rei said.

It seemed a strange thing to say, though Makoto noticed as Rei averted his eyes from the real-looking gash in his neck. Makoto was proud that people were noticing. It had taken him a while to get the effect just right.

"I like your wings," Makoto replied, touching the shimmery purple mesh as Rei winced and mouthed something along the lines of _don't remind me_.

Then he looked to his right and jumped with surprise when he saw who was descending the stairs. Haru walked into the party, dressed in his usual sweater and track pants but this time wearing a black cape. So he had at least made an attempt to dress up for the party.

Makoto didn't take his eyes off of Haru's blue ones as he mumbled a goodbye to Rei and bounded up the stairs to his friend.

"Hi," Makoto said.

"Hey."

"How was the pool?"

"How did you know I was at the pool?" Haru wondered.

Makoto chuckled at his friend's serious expression. "You're wearing your tracksuit, your hair's still damp, and you reek of chlorine."

Haru slouched into his sweater and shrugged. His friend knew him so well.

"The cape looks nice though," Makoto complimented him.

Haru shrugged. "Just something I threw on. Your costume, on the other hand, is really great."

Makoto grinned. "Thanks!"

The pair was silent for a moment amidst the noise of the party. People pushed their way past them on the stairs and Makoto realized that they weren't standing in a great place. He pointed up the stairs.

"Want to get some chips from the kitchen? A drink, maybe?"

Haru nodded and turned around, his cape swishing. He led the way back out of the basement.


	3. Chapter 3

Rei felt his social discomfort creep up again now that Makoto and Haru had disappeared upstairs. Kou was also nowhere to be seen. Where the hell was Nagisa? His eyes scanned the room and final settled on the smiling blond approaching him, with a cup in each hand.

"I went and got us some more drinks. I hope that's oka—" Nagisa was cut off a moment later when Rei grabbed the drink from his left hand and quickly tipped it down his throat.

Rei wiped his mouth and looked at Nagisa, relieved to have a slight buzz back in his brain.

"Don't leave me like that, okay?"

Nagisa's expression looked so apologetic that Rei felt sorry for snapping. Rei didn't really know what had gotten into him. Though Iwatobi had won their last team of the summer season, he still felt a residual sense of not belonging. He had stepped down to allow Rin to swim in that final race, but did that mean that he had forefeited his position on the team? From across the room, a group of his old track buddies waved as they ascended the stairs to get more snacks from the kitchen. Rei waved back but then turned to Nagisa.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it!" Nagisa encouraged.

The pair sat on a couch for a while, watching the proceedings of the party while sipping from their drinks and reliving their favourite memories of the summer. It was nice for Rei to get the chance to hear what Nagisa thought of the training camp and everything that went with it – though they tried not to dwell too much on the time they had all almost drowned. Overall, Nagisa seemed very adamant about insisting that when Rei had finally agreed to join, his dreams for the Iwatobi Swim Club had finally started to come together. Hearing him say all these things was making Rei feel much better.

A moment later, Nagisa drank the rest of the liquid in his cup and then skipped to the crowd of dancers, waving for Rei to join him. Rei smiled and followed his friend, realizing that Nagisa was trying to cheer him up.

The smaller boy certainly looked like he knew what he was doing. The second time around he seemed less shy. He grasped Rei's hands and pulled them around with the music, his eyes bright. Rei blushed but the basement was dark enough that they didn't seem to be attracting too much attention. Nagisa pulled Rei closer to him and leaned up to bring their faces closer together.

"You're really good at dancing," Nagisa said.

"Really?" Rei replied.

"Yeah, I think it makes the shimmery effect of your wings that much better!"

"Shut up," Rei mumbled.

"Make me," Nagisa grinned wickedly. He reached up to twine his fingers in Rei's hair and pulled him down to his face level for a kiss. It was a soft meshing of their lips, and though he tightened his arms around Nagisa's shoulders, Rei remained otherwise frozen; hesitant, almost. A moment later, he and Nagisa pulled apart, but still unable to stop smiling at each other.

"I'm kind of over this whole Halloween Party thing." Rei said.

"Yeah, who dances anyways?" Nagisa laughed.

"Let's go see what the other boys are up to."


	4. Chapter 4

**author's note: **I have literally been to 1 house party in my entire life

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Haru led Makoto out from the basement and turned right at the top of the stairs towards the kitchen in the back of the house. He had been able to hear the pounding music from all the way up the street, but when he finally entered the house it was almost deafening. He longed for the tranquility of his own space, maybe a nice bath… yes that would have been way preferable to this.

Haru walked to a table full of snacks and got a plate. He took a small handful of pretzels to increase his sodium level. Haru looked sidelong at Makoto as the tall boy filled his plate with a serving of potato chips and dip. The other boy's expression was content and Haru realized Makoto had always been able to read him – it was indeed true that he had snuck in an extra forty minutes of water time. At least his teammate had been with him long enough to get used to Haru's eccentrics.

Makoto caught him staring and smiled warmly, his fangs protruding past closed lips. Haru visibly relaxed, feeling a surge of appreciation for his friend. It was great that he and Makoto had gotten along so well over all these years. He was glad that Makoto seemed to be enjoying the swim club and also school in general – he brought a smile to many of their classmates at the party and seemed thrilled to do it.

"So do you want to get anything to drink?" Makoto asked Haru.

The blue-haired boy nodded. He grabbed two plastic cups and filled them with strong sake that a classmate was nice enough to offer. He paused.

"Want to go out in the backyard?"

"Sure."

"Take the bottle then!" a random classmate said, stuffing it into Makoto's hands. He looked quizzically at Haru, who shrugged. He didn't mind accepting gifts.

"Thanks."

"Don't worry, we've got more!" the girl who had given them the alcohol winked and then turned back to her girlfriends, who were huddling around someone's phone excitedly.

The pair made their way out the back sliding door to the mostly-empty backyard. There was a bench built into the desk and a small patch of browning grass where a few students stood smoking. Luckily, the breeze was drifting the smoke to the back of the yard, away from the house. There was a crispness to the air that was a welcome contrast to the mustiness inside. Haru breathed deeply and closed his eyes.

"Are you tired?" Makoto asked.

"A little," he admitted, opening his eyes.

Makoto looked concerned. "Please don't overdo your training. It _is_ the off-season, remember?"

Haru nodded. He took a sip of his drink to show Makoto that he wasn't taking this too seriously. He felt his heartbeat quicken as he emptied that drink and then another, pouring from the bottle of sake into his cup. The rice wine tasted surprisingly good, smooth and cool. In fact, Haru thought as he watched Makoto laugh as he relayed a funny story from that afternoon, he could get used to this.

"And then I told the guy that if he really wants to pick up this girl he's had a crush on, he should join her in the other room where they're watching horror movies. Then this guy tells me he's terrified of zombies! Could you imagine?" Makoto's fangs showed as he threw his head back in laughter. Haru tried not to stare at his teammate's neck—the side that wasn't caked in fake blood. He felt laughter bubbling up in his own throat even though he hadn't caught most of Makoto's story. A little too late, he realized that he was probably drunk.

"Well hi there. I didn't really peg you guys as the party type," a rough but amused-sounding voice announced from their right. Rin was standing on the deck beside them, apparently just having come back from the grassy area of the yard. He dropped the butt of his cigarette and stomped it out.

"Haru! Makoto!" He held up his arms and stiffly shambled over to them, in an imitation of the mummy he was dressed up as. Haru noticed the white gauze wrapped around Rin's muscular frame and realized that he was probably just wearing his swimsuit underneath the bandages of his costume. Lucky bastard. Haru wished he had thought of that, but then realized that his own swim trunks were drying, hung up over the shower curtain rod in his bathroom.

"I didn't know you smoked," Haru commented.

"Cut me some slack. It's the off-season, remember?" He extended his hand to Makoto and the pair fist-bumped. Rin tied up the loose ends of the bandages that had slightly unraveled."Oh your fangs are UNREAL man, great job!"

"Thankssss," Makoto grinned back, sliding into character and pulling up his cloak to hide half his face.

Haru watched the pair interact and smiled. He stood up (a little unsteady on his feet) to shake hands with Rin, glad that they were finally friends again.

"So are you guys planning to do anything after the party?"

"I just want to sleep," Haru said, only half-joking.

"Well then my friend, you just aren't drunk enough. Let's see what we can do about that, shall we?" Rin disappeared into the house just long enough to allow Haru and Makoto to exchange a glance before he returned with three small glasses and a bottle of some strong kind of drink. Haru didn't look at the label – he didn't want to know.

Rin poured them each a shot and he held his hand up. The other boys clinked their glasses with his.

"To the Swim Team!" he announced.

"To the Swim Team!" Haru and Makoto said in unison.

The trio drank.

A second time. "To the end of Summer!"

A third time. "To Halloween!"


	5. Chapter 5

The alcohol burned their throats, so they washed down the strong drink with something less intense. Not even five minutes later, Makoto felt ready to swim hundred of laps—if only his head would stop spinning—and Haru appeared to be on the verge of sleep.

There was a dull buzz and Rin pulled out his phone. "Shit. Nitori's here already. He's my ride back to Samezuka. This was fun. I'll see you boys later!" Rin stood and walked back into the house.

"Why was he even…?" Haru muttered.

Makoto shrugged. "Just go with it," he said.

The pair stared at each other, both conscious of the alcohol in their blood and feeling the breeze of the cold evening. Haru looked around the yard and then back at Makoto, who was still watching him with a concerned expression.

"Are you cold? We can go inside."

Haru was relieved. He and Makoto left the empty bottle on the deck and stumbled back towards the house. Haru tripped a little on the threshold and Makoto managed to hold him up.

"You okay?"

Haru grunted. The music was even more offensive now that they could hear it without having a window between the speakers and their ears. "I think I should go back home," Haru admitted, slurring his words.

"Well, come on then, I'll walk you there," Makoto promised.

"Heeeeyyyyyy!" the boys heard a shout as they were about to leave the house. Nagisa and Rei were stumbling towards the pair, holding hands. Rei's wings were in tatters and Nagisa's wavy hair looked even more messed up that usual.

"Don't tell me you guys were thinking of leaving us!"

"Of course not," Makoto smiled. Haru noticed he was still wearing the fangs and reached up to touch the plastic. His fingers ended up grazing over the taller boy's lips. Makoto's breath was hot, and for an instant, none of the four knew what to make of the gesture.

"Well, let's go then!" Haru said grumpily. He started off down the street leaving the other boys no choice but to follow his meandering footsteps.

Haru did a surprisingly good job of navigating them for the first five minutes. He walked a ways in front of everyone else, maintaining his balance without much difficulty. Rei and Nagisa were walking with their arms around each other, stumbling and laughing. Nagisa was talking intently about how much he appreciated Rei joining the team and the other boy was blushing furiously. Makoto chimed in, though it was clear that Rei appreciated the praise from the small breaststroke swimmer.

The three heard a grunt and then turned their attention to Haru. Their usually graceful teammate was sitting on the side of the walkway, his shoulders slumped and his legs out straight in front of him. He looked up at the other boys as they approached and his expression seemed to convey that he was surprised to see himself suddenly on the ground.

"What are you doing there?" Makoto sighed. He knelt down in the cold grass but Haru didn't make eye contact with him. Makoto sighed and and grabbed the other boy's elbows, helping him to his feet.

"That's better. Can you stand?"

Haru nodded though half-lidded eyes but Makoto just sighed again and put his arm around the boy's waist. He positioned Haru's arm over his shoulder on the other side, pushing the boy's cape out of the way.

Haru giggled. Imagine that – the boy who never smiled, was laughing now that Makoto held him. Makoto could feel the other boys watching them. He figured Nagisa knew what was up.

"Oh stop it. I'm just helping you get your drunk ass home," Makoto mumbled, walking the pair back to the path.

"Are we there yet?" Haru asked.

"Not yet. Maybe five more minutes?"

Haru nodded seriously and then tried to lead Makoto and the rest of the team in the wrong direction, back to the party.

"No, this way," Makoto said, firmly turning Haru around.

Nagisa and Rei leaned into each other for support as they doubled over with laughter. Everything just seemed too funny. Makoto was being the motherly figure and Haru was never this much of a brat. Makoto shot them a look— which was made funnier by his protruding fangs – Nagisa and Rei howled and wiped tears from their eyes.

"Whatever. Let's go," Haru said, finally heading in the right direction. Makoto walked with him and Rei and Nagisa followed.

The streetlights cast strange shadows for each of them – Haru and Makoto looked like one creature, and Nagisa's sweater looked like a black blob on the pavement. Rei looked at his tattered wings and thought that their shadow looked something like an art piece – decidedly NOT beautiful.

Rei looked down at the blond haired youth. "Hey," he said, stopping short.

Nagisa looked up and Rei kissed him without thinking. He closed his eyes and felt Nagisa's smile. The blond reached up and stood on his tiptoes, leaning into Rei for balance. Nagisa bumped his forehead on Rei's glasses and Rei laughed. Nagisa took the chance to slip his tongue into Rei's mouth and Rei met him eagerly. The sounds of the streets faded as he wound his hands in the other boy's hair and pushed their hips together. He was breathing quickly and felt his heartbeat speed up. Nagisa moaned softly into his mouth and Rei's knees felt weak.

"Hey!"

The outside world returned with a sharp shout from their teammate. Rei and Nagisa sprang apart and looked at Makoto and Haru with shocked expressions.

"What?" Rei blurted out.

"Nothing," Haru said. He and Makoto turned and continued walking.

Nagisa slipped his hand into Rei's and squeezed it. Rei looked at the other boy and returned his smile. They continued on the sidewalk and caught up to Makoto and Haru.

Makoto pointed to the right. "If we go down this dark path, we'll be in the dorms in less than a minute. Or we could go around to the front entrance."

"This way's kind of dark," Haru mumbled.

"Who cares?" Nagisa said excitedly, flailing the arm of his long sweater to point to the darkness waited. "Let's go this way. You only live once, so we might as well! This will be an adventure. If we run, it will be over sooner!"

"If we run it will be scary, like someone's chasing us," Makoto said, a not of fear entering his voice.

"Hey," Haru said in a strange moment of lucidity. He reached for the other boy's hand. "We'll be fine."

"Besides, our costumes will scare away whatever's out there!" Nagisa laughed.

"Okay," Makoto grinned. He looked at Rei and held out his hand to the only one who seemed more uncertain than he was.

Rei took it. "Let's go."

Holding hands, the four teens sprinted through the dark of the path towards the light of their dorms. It was like swimming a relay, the way that they relied on each other for support and guidance through the dark path. A few times, Rei or Haru would stumble, but a gentle tug from either Makoto or Nagisa would help them find their footing. Within a few minutes, they made it to the light of the dorm commons and everyone tried to regain their breathing after the sprint/stumble through the forest.

All four were silent for a moment. Then they heard the wind creak the branches of the old tree in the courtyard of Iwatobi.

The team grinned nervously at each other.

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**Author's Note: **I really enjoyed writing this fic for Unattainable Dreams' Prompt Exchange Challenge. I was a little late to jump on board but she did a great job of managing the forums. Thanks also to The Path of Supreme Conquest who gave me the prompt "someone should tell him he's really not scary". I hope I did okay!

(ALSO, THIS MIGHT NOT BE THE END OF THIS FIC. If people seem to like it, I might continue this story with a bonus chapter I've been working on. So please leave a review and I hope to see you soon!)


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